All Eyes (and cameras) on Rail

I always feel like somebody’s watching me (apologies to Rockwell) on MetroRail station platforms. And I’m glad someone’s watching to help keep things safe and secure. Capital Metro has a comprehensive system of rail platform security cameras, 38 in all, spread out among the nine rail stations (not mention the 16 internal and external cameras on board each MetroRail vehicle which constantly record).

The platform cameras are monitored 24-hours a day by security staff and rail dispatchers to observe any unusual or unsafe activity; they can send an officer out immediately if needed. For example, rail dispatchers recently spotted this truck encroaching in the railroad right-of-way near the MLK station:

5-yard penalty for encroachment (and the real penalties and dangers are more severe)

We’ve seen worse, including people walking on the tracks and even setting up tripods on the tracks to take pictures (very dangerous and illegal). With the cameras, we can also keep an eye on crowd sizes on station platforms as well as the ticket vending machines.

A couple of TV stations took a look at our camera system yesterday. Here’s some of the coverage: